"LIVE" From the Allure of the Seas - 15 - 22 January 2012

[Susie51]

Trainmain, thank you for posting and including pics.

[Sugar*Magnolia]

A First for Me on an RCI Ship!

 

A young Mom & Dad changing their baby's diaper on the stairs near the elevator lobby only 30' or so from a Ladies Room with a Baby Changing Table.

Sorry about the photo quality but I shot it "on the fly"! The low quality serves to protect the identity of the parents and maintain a proper level of decorum here on CC.

 

 

Just finding your Live Trainman, and had to comment on this [removed pic, so it didnt clutter your posts and comments from others] ......nothing surprises me these days, but this really has left me SMH and speechless. :eek: My question is, why on the stairs when there are ample bathrooms with changing stations? I just dont get it.??

 

:)

 

Great live, thanks for taking the time!

Cheers, CruiseDivaNJ

[Trainman-2]

Thanks for this Jim, really apprecaite it.

 

Do you know if at the Chef's table they do non alocholic drinks or other no wine options. Travelling with foodie older teenagers and non wine drinkers

 

They provided me with a Diet Coke when I asked for it and kept bringing more. I asked them to limit my wine pouring to enough for a taste. I declined the final pour.

 

I would guess that when you make the reservation and you tell them that you have underage kids they will not provide them with the wine and may even reduce their cost.

[Trainman-2]

Just finding your Live Trainman, and had to comment on this [removed pic, so it didnt clutter your posts and comments from others] ......nothing surprises me these days, but this really has left me SMH and speechless. :eek: My question is, why on the stairs when there are ample bathrooms with changing stations? I just dont get it.??

 

:)

 

Great live, thanks for taking the time!

Cheers, CruiseDivaNJ

 

Where the mom was sitting, she was facing a clearly marked Ladies Room directly across from her. No more than 20-30 feet away.

[PCWalton1]

Thanks for this Jim, really apprecaite it.

 

Do you know if at the Chef's table they do non alocholic drinks or other no wine options. Travelling with foodie older teenagers and non wine drinkers

Wow a foodie teen? The only types I have ever met either ate everything or ate nothing. :D

[Trainman-2]

SMOKING - Allure is a primarily a non-smoking ship however we have designated areas onboard for our guests who do smoke. Smoking is only allowed on the port side of the outer Decks 15 & 16, at the after deck bar on Deck 17 Forward, The upper level of Dazzles on Deck 9, a designated section in the Boleros Bar on Deck 5, on the Starboard side and the bar area in Casino Royale on Deck 4 and in a designated area of Blaze on Deck 4 and in a designated area of the Bow & Stern Pub on Deck 5.

[Trainman-2]

A Beautiful Day in the Caribbean - Partly Cloudy with a high of 75 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

So far today I have seen two flights of flying fish and one small dolphin.

[Trainman-2]

We went to breakfast in the MDR this morning.

 

They were having a "Character Breakfast" for the kids on the other side of the dining room on Deck 4.

 

 

 

 

I ordered Eggs Benedict (one of my favorites) and asked for three with a double order of crisp bacon.

 

 

 

 

The Canadian Bacon was very thin and significantly smaller than the English Muffin! The Bacon was not fully cooked, greasy, and nowhere near crisp. The amount of Hollidaise Sauce on each egg was skimpy. The eggs were poached just right.

 

I was disappointed!

[ckrobyn]

We went to breakfast in the MDR this morning.

 

They were having a "Character Breakfast" for the kids on the other side of the dining room on Deck 4.

 

 

 

 

I ordered Eggs Benedict (one of my favorites) and asked for three with a double order of crisp bacon.

 

 

 

 

The Canadian Bacon was very thin and significantly smaller than the English Muffin! The Bacon was not fully cooked, greasy, and nowhere near crisp. The amount of Hollidaise Sauce on each egg was skimpy. The eggs were poached just right.

 

I was disappointed!

 

It sounds as if the food on this cruise (particularly breakfast) has really been hit or miss.....:rolleyes:

 

Really enjoying your LIVE report and pictures! Thanks :D

[cruisemeister8]

The easy answer to wheel chair accessibility on Captain Hook's Pirate Ship is "NO!"

 

The ship is not designed for wheel chair access!

 

Having said that, I would suggest you go ahead and book the cruise and see what happens.

 

The one thing you don't say is if the person in the wheel chair can walk at all!

 

The gangway has one step up to get on and four or five steps to get off the gangway and down to the main deck. I am confident that the crew would be willing and able to pick up the wheel chair and set it on the gangway and then lift it down to the main deck. This could be done.

 

The next problem is that the buffet lunch is one deck below the main deck with narrow and steep stairs leading down to it. Again, I am confident that the crew would be willing to bring plates of food up to the main deck for you.

 

The last problem is that the bath rooms are also one deck below the main deck down a curving narrow stairway and the bathroom stalls are very small and have no handicapped bars in them. They cannot accommodate a wheelchair and there is no way to get the wheelchair down the stairs.

 

So if your handicapped person has the ability to walk short distances and go up one step and down four or five, than it would be easy.

 

Thank you Jim, for your honest evaluation. Yes, she can get up and walk for short distances. She wants to take the wheelchair on this vacation because, in general, it's a huge ship with lots of walking and occasions to stand in line. So it would be very easy for her to "ride" through Falmouth from Allure over to the pirate boat, but once we get there? From the way you describe it, yeah, she could probably get up and walk up this gangway. But I very much appreciate the other details about the steps, the location of the food, and restroom situation. Like you said, the crew may be willing to help; but some of that setup may be the dealbreaker because I can already forsee the difficulties. We'll talk about it now that we know the facts of the situation. Thanks for being there, Jim. Hope you and Judith have a great rest of your trip, and keep the ship warm for us! We're just a few doors down and a few months behind you all! :D

[bravostar]

Trainman,

You mentioned just walking to the Pirate Ship. So is this the way to go? Why do they send you to the bus area if it is in walking distance? Are there signs directing you to the ship?

Thanks for your great reviews.

[mark290]

"The Canadian Bacon was very thin and significantly smaller than the English Muffin! The Bacon was not fully cooked, greasy, and nowhere near crisp. The amount of Hollidaise Sauce on each egg was skimpy. The eggs were poached just right.

 

I was disappointed!"

 

Looking forward to seeing the follow up picture showing the two you couldn't eat and left behind :)

 

Enjoying your review.

[cruz4evr]

Good Morning Jim,

Love all the pictures and your "LIVE" reports!

Have a great sea day! :D

[QTMichele]

Just finding your LIVE thread - loving it as always, Trainman. :) I'll be making my journey back to Allure 3 weeks from today... Can't wait! I am curious about the Royal Connect phones. Do you know how much they cost for the week? Please don't go out of your way to find out.

 

Thanks again for letting us cruise along with you.

[jakesmom04]

Do you need to make reservations for the character breakfast in advance or just show up? Loving all the pictures and your view of things. Thanks so much!

[vargasjv]

Do you need to make reservations for the character breakfast in advance or just show up? Loving all the pictures and your view of things. Thanks so much!

 

 

You can make reservations via the entertainment section of your online reservation on RCCL. It's no additional costs..

[jakesmom04]

vargasjv: Thank you for the info. Will watch for it when our bookings open.

[LLindaC]

Good morning all! I am proud to say that I was the female team member for the winning QUEST team last night! I am completely uninhibited and so is my husband (who was half naked last night) and we have won several games, lol!! Anyway, I talked to the engineer and gym member about the bad smoke in the gym and they said they've had many complaints and they are trying to "work on it". Sorry, that's not good enough. Until they stop the smoking in the room below the gym, there will be dangerous and irritatating smoke. I have compromised lungs due to years of working in bars and I have to avoid Boleros and the Casino, but as an athlete, not being able to use the gym is simply not acceptable. Oh well, off to the Belly Flop. Except for the gym, we are having a marvelous time.

[dotti]

Trainman-2,

We had such a ball on the Oasis that

we are going on Allure, Feb. 26,

we are doing the Rita's Fiesta, and

the Prohibition Party,

most excited about that one.

Will you be going ba ck to the 1920's, for the party,

we'd love to see pix , if you do, to see what it will look like.

Can't wait.

dotti and rich

[Trainman-2]

The Ship's Internet link is still having problems.

 

Sometimes it is totally down!

 

Sometimes it is working but very slow. For example, when I clicked on my bookmark for the Cruse Critic RCI Board it took 2 minutes and 22 seconds until the RCI page was totally loaded.

[fish6]

The Ship's Internet link is still having problems.

 

Sometimes it is totally down!

 

Sometimes it is working but very slow. For example, when I clicked on my bookmark for the Cruse Critic RCI Board it took 2 minutes and 22 seconds until the RCI page was totally loaded.

This is just so ridonkulous!!!!!! :(

[Trainman-2]

The Air Conditioning System in our cabin is not working properly!

 

When we boarded on Sunday and all through Monday, it was working nicely and the room was cool.

 

I kept it at the "Judith Approved" setting as shown below.

 

 

Tuesday morning when we returned from breakfast, our room was hot! So I lowered the setting on the thermostat in the room to "Frozen Stiff" as shown below.

 

 

It has been at that setting since Tuesday morning. When we returned from lunch today the room was hot! Maintenance told me it was 79 degrees in our cabin.

 

Here is the basis for the problem we are having...

 

On the Oasis and the Allure there is a switch in the door to the balcony that turns off the A/C system in the cabin if the balcony door is not shut and locked with the handle in the full down position.

 

I learned today that when the balcony door is not fully locked the A/C shuts off and the heater turns on. That is why it was hotter in our room than it is outside when we returned.

 

I have been calling Maintenance and All I have achieved is getting the "standard explanation" that the balcony door must me locked.

 

When I called Maintenance today when we returned to a hot room I was told that the balcony door was not locked.

 

NOTE: Maintenance can "see" the position of the door and the temperatures in every cabin on their computer system.

 

So the Maintenance guy had me open and close the balcony door and after the third closing he said "It is showing closed now" and the A/C system started working.

 

Normally we go out onto our balcony to smoke for short periods. But sometimes we both go out onto the balcony and sit and enjoy the view and sounds of the ocean while we read for an hour or more.

 

One maintenance person told me to stop using the balcony. Another one told me that one of us should go out and the other should stay in the cabin and lock the other out on the balcony.

 

I see two different things here:

 

- First. Our A/C system worked perfectly Sunday and Monday and had not worked correctly since. Something changed Tuesday morning.

 

- Second. Although the idea of a switch in the balcony door probably sounded good to the engineers who designed the ship, in real life it doesn't work. People use their balconies! The balcony doors are opened and closed all of the time. The switch should allow the A/C to work when the door is closed but not latched and only shut down the A/C when the door is open.

 

So you might ask what I am doing.

 

The answer is easy. I am working calmly and purposefully within the system with no screaming and yelling.

 

Yesterday I called Guest Relations and asked to talk the the Guest Relations Manager. The guy I talked with asked me what it was about and I told him it was about the A/C system in my cabin. He told me that the GR Manager doesn't have anything to do with A/C and I agreed but told him that the GR Manager had a lot do do with unhappy Guests, so he put me through.

 

We had a good discussion about the problem and he said he would look into it and have someone follow up with me.

 

Shortly after that a guy showed up and worked on the balcony door. Shortly after that, two guys came back and worked on the door. They thought it was fixed.

 

Last night I had a follow up call and I said that it seemed to be fixed.

 

Today proved this to be untrue so I called back and GR is going to look into it farther.

 

As I type, the balcony door is closed and locked, the A/C system is cooling the room, and Judith has put on a heavy sweatshirt.

 

I have a feeling that the problem is a bad switch in in the balcony door.

 

More to come as the saga continues...

[davila1943]

The Air Conditioning System in our cabin is not working properly!

 

When we boarded on Sunday and all through Monday, it was working nicely and the room was cool.

 

I kept it at the "Judith Approved" setting as shown below.

 

 

Tuesday morning when we returned from breakfast, our room was hot! So I lowered the setting on the thermostat in the room to "Frozen Stiff" as shown below.

 

 

It has been at that setting since Tuesday morning. When we returned from lunch today the room was hot! Maintenance told me it was 79 degrees in our cabin.

 

Here is the basis for the problem we are having...

 

On the Oasis and the Allure there is a switch in the door to the balcony that turns off the A/C system in the cabin if the balcony door is not shut and locked with the handle in the full down position.

 

I learned today that when the balcony door is not fully locked the A/C shuts off and the heater turns on. That is why it was hotter in our room than it is outside when we returned.

 

I have been calling Maintenance and All I have achieved is getting the "standard explanation" that the balcony door must me locked.

 

When I called Maintenance today when we returned to a hot room I was told that the balcony door was not locked.

 

NOTE: Maintenance can "see" the position of the door and the temperatures in every cabin on their computer system.

 

So the Maintenance guy had me open and close the balcony door and after the third closing he said "It is showing closed now" and the A/C system started working.

 

Normally we go out onto our balcony to smoke for short periods. But sometimes we both go out onto the balcony and sit and enjoy the view and sounds of the ocean while we read for an hour or more.

 

One maintenance person told me to stop using the balcony. Another one told me that one of us should go out and the other should stay in the cabin and lock the other out on the balcony.

 

I see two different things here:

 

- First. Our A/C system worked perfectly Sunday and Monday and had not worked correctly since. Something changed Tuesday morning.

 

- Second. Although the idea of a switch in the balcony door probably sounded good to the engineers who designed the ship, in real life it doesn't work. People use their balconies! The balcony doors are opened and closed all of the time. The switch should allow the A/C to work when the door is closed but not latched and only shut down the A/C when the door is open.

 

So you might ask what I am doing.

 

The answer is easy. I am working calmly and purposefully within the system with no screaming and yelling.

 

Yesterday I called Guest Relations and asked to talk the the Guest Relations Manager. The guy I talked with asked me what it was about and I told him it was about the A/C system in my cabin. He told me that the GR Manager doesn't have anything to do with A/C and I agreed but told him that the GR Manager had a lot do do with unhappy Guests, so he put me through.

 

We had a good discussion about the problem and he said he would look into it and have someone follow up with me.

 

Shortly after that a guy showed up and worked on the balcony door. Shortly after that, two guys came back and worked on the door. They thought it was fixed.

 

Last night I had a follow up call and I said that it seemed to be fixed.

 

Today proved this to be untrue so I called back and GR is going to look into it farther.

 

As I type, the balcony door is closed and locked, the A/C system is cooling the room, and Judith has put on a heavy sweatshirt.

 

I have a feeling that the problem is a bad switch in in the balcony door.

 

More to come as the saga continues...

hi love your review you think could take a picture of the latin band that playing in boleros if you can

[speakertosuits]

The Air Conditioning System in our cabin is not working properly!

 

-snip-

 

I have a feeling that the problem is a bad switch in in the balcony door.

 

More to come as the saga continues...

 

Jim, is the door switch you refer to magnetically operated? I had heard some speculation on these boards that is how the switch is triggered. Magnetic proximity would make more sense than a mechanical switch that would fail in short order. You could ask them.

[LBumb]

enjoy the rest of your sea day.

i am really enjoying your cruise.

thanks